I Am Leaving You with a Gift

September 9, 2016

I Am Leaving You with a Gift

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart.

And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.

So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

John  14:27

There are times when we look at Scripture through an either/or lens, and there are times when we use a both/and lens. Today’s passage is an either/or. John uses the word, world, to denote the two fold opposition to the Kingdom of God. First, within the world are those who choose not to believe and obey Jesus. Secondly, within the world, is the “ruler of this world” (John 14:30) which is a literal reference to Caesar and his forces and a figurative reference to the forces of evil that oppose the reign of God.

It is within this world, dominated by both the human forces who oppose the Kingdom of God and the spiritual forces of wickedness, that Jesus sends his disciples; but Jesus does not send us alone. He assures his followers that the Advocate, as Jesus’ representative—that is, the Holy Spirit— will teach us everything and will remind us of everything of which Jesus spoke in Scripture. (John 14:26)

Jesus also promises that as we live in fidelity with his teachings, we will experience peace of mind and heart. And the peace Jesus gives us is a gift the world cannot give. So we don’t have to be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)

Jesus sending his disciples into harm’s way, equipped with only the promise of his Advocate and his peace, is somewhat akin to sending a soldier into combat without a weapon or body armor. The Apostle Paul added the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17) to our equipment list, but it is designed only to enhance our witness and experience of Jesus’ peace, which really doesn’t seem sufficient against the combined forces of this world.

St. Teresa of Avila is quoted as saying, "Dear Lord, if this is how You treat Your friends, it is no wonder You have so few!”

Maybe so, maybe so.

Still, I want to be counted as among the friends of Jesus.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.